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SteampunkPup261 — Wesley the Western Maryland I1
Published: 2018-12-20 19:59:10 +0000 UTC; Views: 1637; Favourites: 23; Downloads: 0
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Description
Wesley is another 2-10-0 Decapod who works on the Pennsylvania Valley. He is a former Western Maryland I1 built by Baldwin around the same time as Ivan was built. Like Ivan, Wesley and the other Russian Decapods were forced to stay in America and he, along with 9 other 2-10-0s, were sent to the Western Maryland, where they were classified as I1 Decapods. What makes Wesley and his brothers and sisters unique is their throttles work in reverse. Their throttles were opened when pushing the throttle forward like in movies and tv shows that don't know about locomotive throttles, rather than pulling it backwards like most throttles in steam engines. This was confusing to most crews that worked on these engines, but they were well liked by crews and were used on branch line duties and local trains. From fetching coal and working mainline locals to running the daily locals on branch lines, Wesley and the rest of the I1's did it all, until steam soon came to a close in the 1950s. While a few went to the Locomotive Preservation Society or sold for scrap, Wesley's story is quite interesting. While he was saved from scrap by the LPS, he was sold to a short line railroad in Maine, being disguised as an Erie 2-10-0 and was used on freight and tourist trains up and down the branch line. That same line was where Shaun Dalmatian died in a boiler explosion, but Wesley, thankfully, wasn't the engine that blew up and killed the famous railroad dog. The accident resulted the line to be put under investigation and soon found that most of the people were not trained to operate steam engines, and due to the fact that the line had killed the famous railroad dog, people started giving the line a bad name and soon lost revenue in 1994, resulting in the engines to be sold or scrapped, without even the LPS knowing about their scrapping. Wesley heard about him being scrapped and plotted for an escape to the Pennsylvania Valley. He managed to sneak out of the yard and made a daring escape all the way to Pennsylvania. He only managed to reach Hightown, New York, running out of coal and unable to steam properly. If it hadn't been for Sheila the Milwaukee S3, Wesley would've been found and possibly scrapped. Taken in to the yard at Hillside and after Lyle Jenkins found out about what were to happen to the I1, he bought him and restored him to full operation. Now you'll find the 2-10-0 handling freight and tourist trains up and down the Nero's Dark Cavern Branch, while also handling coal trains from time to time on the mainline. His daring escape is something to listen to, nicknaming him "The Hillside Fugitive".While he was credited to his heroism and daring escape, Wesley is an engine who is willing to admit that everyday is a learning curve. But as he learned more about his new home, he has been a trustworthy and well-behaved engine. His escape can make him boastful at times, but the death of Shaun Dalmatian makes him feel down, even though it wasn't his fault and he wasn't the engine who killed him.
Game used: Trainz: A New Era.
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Comments: 2
By the end of the Bolshevik Revolution in late Autumn 1917, a great amount of 2-10-0 'Decapods' were scheduled for a shipment from the United States of America to the Russian Empire, only to end up postponed for not being paid by the USSR.
These Decapods had been converted to American standards before they were put into action on various railroads.
Among them was the Western Maryland that received only (10) of the 2-10-0's, classified as 'I-1's while being numbered from 1101 to 1110.
They were nearly put to use system widely and because of this, they were preferably suitable for many local and branch-line duties.
The 'I-1's did excellent for everything they do, collecting coal trains and working on mainline locals including daily locals on the Waynesboro and other short lines.
With their efficiency of their good-quality work, these engines were generally interested by their crews.
It has been noted that the throttles on the decapods which were received by the WM working in reverse, meaning that the throttle had been opened by pushing forwards on it instead of pulling back on it.
One person can imagine the instinct of a engineer to close the throttle fast while the wheel slips which is most likely resulted in more wheel-sliding when they accidentally opened the throttle wide open by pushing the handle forward.
One of the 'I-1' Decapods no. 1110 was used for a testing yard engine at Elkins, West Virginia.
Unfortunately however, the wide tires and elongated wheelbase led the poor decapod into numerous derailing incidents in even numerous times around the switching points.
Needless to say that experiment was pretty much short-lived.
By the time the steam era came to a end, all (10) of class I-1 decapods were scrapped into extinction at the dawn of new motive power that had taken over all services.
P.S. I have a friend named Wesley too
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Oh that's ironic about your friend named Wesley. I have one too!
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